Ba Chua Xu Temple Festival Recognized as an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity
On December 4, 2024, Vietnam’s Ba Chua Xu Temple Festival at Sam Mountain was officially inscribed on the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity at the 19th session of the Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage, in Asunción, Paraguay.
Art performances at Ba Chua Xu Temple Festival. (Image source: Internet)
This is the 16th intangible cultural heritage of Vietnam recognized by UNESCO and the second intangible cultural heritage of the Southern region (after the Don Ca Tai Tu art) and is the first traditional festival of the Mekong Delta to receive this honor.
Ba Chua Xu Temple Festival takes place from the 22nd to the 27th day of the fourth lunar month at the Ba Chua Xu Temple of Sam Mountain. The festival includes spiritual rituals and artistic performances, expressing the belief and gratitude of the Vietnamese, Cham, Khmer, and Hoa ethnic communities in Chau Doc, An Giang towards the Mother Goddess of the Land.
The festival attracts thousands of visitors each year. (Image source: Internet)
The festival aims to honor the patron goddess, who bestows wealth, fortune, health, and peace upon the local people. It also serves as an educational platform to instill traditional moral values such as gratitude to ancestors, highlighting the role of women, and demonstrating the harmonious interplay of creativity, cultural practices, and ethnic unity.
UNESCO’s recognition will raise community awareness and promote the festival’s practices, highlighting the role of rituals in cultural diversity and fostering cultural exchange among communities.
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